Fox’s Bream Suggests Using Terms Like ‘Islamic Extremist’ Is Crucial To Fighting The War On Terror

Last night, The Kelly File hosted a discussion about the 9/11 memorial museum - and what substitute host Shannon Bream called the “enormous pressure to remove the terms Islamist extremist and jihadism from a brief 7-minute film about the 9/11 attack.” It’s one thing to debate whether the terms should stay in or out. But Bream took it a step further by suggesting that not using those terms makes us more vulnerable to terror attacks. Not surprisingly, her guest, Dinest D’Souza, took the bait.

It’s hard to believe Bream wouldn’t know how D’Souza felt on the subject. But just in case she didn’t, he gave a hint when he said that while most Muslims are not terrorists, the “vast majority” of terrorists are Muslims.

At 5:13, Bream began the following exchange:

BREAM: How worried are you about the issue of political correctness as we try to responsibly identify those who are behind these acts of terrorism accurately. …When we see that certain manuals and government publications are scrubbed of certain words – I mean, can we go after things and target the right people if we’re afraid of using certain words?

D’SOUZA: Try to imagine these events of 9/11 if you can’t use the word terrorism, which of course the Obama administration has backed away from. You can’t use the word Islam or Muslim and you can’t use the word jihad. You’re rendered almost mute. And you have to now make up a new vocabulary.

…The most illiberal force in the world, which is radical Islam, is now being protected in the name of liberalism.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of being sensitive, as the previous guest, Harris Zafar pointed out earlier, but a pragmatic goal of not antagonizing moderate Muslims whom we want as allies in our fight. But Bream and D’Souza seem to think it’s more important to talk tough than to keep the bigger picture in mind.

Showing 6 reactions

OK, let’s follow Bream’s logic: If we don’t call Bill O’Reilly an Irish terrorist over things like Dr. Tiller, Knoxville, and the things his viewers do over his words, and do it entirely because he’s Irish… Then the CIRA, RIRA, Red Hand, and IPLO will all win.

Oh, wait- Sean Hannity’s Irish, too- Why isn’t Ailes labeling him a terrorist, and monitoring him every time his mouth causes trouble. Doesn’t he care about stopping Irish Terrorism?!

And holy cow- Shannon Bream’s real name is Shannon Noelle DePuy. Why would she change her name, if she has nothing to hide? Is she a member of a french terrorist group? For a French person, she seems to hate France, even for a Fox News name… Like AZF, or Action Directe.

Oh, wait- If I was doing this as a serious claim, and not an example of how easy it is to pull this crap, that would be slander. Because they’re white people, and it’s only OK to baselessly accuse minorities of being a terrorist, and pull out excuses that flimsy as “evidence.”

So, would D’Souza be willing to use the “terrorist” label for a bunch of “Americans” who claim they DON’T recognize the authority of the US government? You know, like the group in Nevada that FoxNoise just couldn’t quit salivating over (at least until the leader of the group showed his racist colors). And when VP Biden called them “terrorists,” FoxNoise just couldn’t quit complaining?

Or, like so many other right-wing nutjobs, does D’Souza only use “terrorism” to apply to certain groups but is a bit less ready to apply it to people who harass women trying to avail themselves of Planned Parenthood clinics or advocate killing doctors to stop abortion?

Yeah. That’s what I thought. In the “mind” (such as it is) of right-wingers, “terrorism is what we say it is.”

“I mean, can we go after things and target the right people if we’re afraid of using certain words?”

It’s not about being afraid to use certain words…it’s about protecting freedom for ALL Americans from those who would use the government to legally determine who “the right people” are.

“And you have to now make up a new vocabulary.”

No you don’t. The words you wish to plainly say are available, you just refuse to say them because you know how offensive they are: You want the United States government to officially support discrimination against certain people based on their ethnicity and religion. You’re simply trying to use the guise of terrorism to achieve this.